A Hardened Heart

Two semesters ago, I took a sociology class. We read a book called, Angry White Men, which I didn’t really care for all that much, for irrelevant reasons. But something that stood out to me very poignantly in that book was the explanation of the rage and inappropriateness that can arise from the anonymity allowed us by the Internet. People will say things online that they would never say to another human being in real life. And while I’m not an advocate for turning the world upside down to avoid offending anyone, I am also not an advocate of becoming coldly detached from other humans and holding opinions that are fired up by an evil mob mentality. I fear that our hearts may be affected by our quickness to judge with harshness online.

I was scrolling through my Facebook homepage this morning (an unfortunately regular and consistent pastime) to see all of the reposting’s about a man who fell into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park and is presumably dead, although they still search for his body in the devilish hot spring environment. The man wandered off the boardwalks approximately 20 feet, despite railings and countless signs warning against such an action. He then fell in to waters of temperatures immediately deadly to humans and hasn’t been seen yet.

This news article was posted by numerous friends with comments along the lines of:

           

“Are all the Yellowstone visitors brain dead this year?”

            “What an idiot; could he not read the signs?”

            “Another dumb tourist bites the dust.”

… and so on and so forth. Sure, your comments exploit and highlight the obviously ill-conceived idea to cross guardrails onto extremely dangerous territory, implying “he did it to himself.”

But would you say that to his mother? His wife? His best friend? His daughter?

I really don’t think you would. Because if you actually saw his terrified and hysterical sister running to a Yellowstone ranger begging for help after seeing her brother disappear into a steaming abyss, you would be much more empathetic. If you were sitting at lunch with his mother when she received the call that her little boy had boiled to death in a bottomless Jurassic death pit, you would not scoff at his stupidity. If you saw the terror in his eyes and heard the last cut-off cry of his lips as he slipped under to his death, you would be ashamed of yourself for those rash Facebook comments.

This is only one example of the countless instances were we step in and implant our pretentious, uncompassionate, rude, and completely unsolicited opinions into stories about real people with real spirits, families, dreams, aspirations, callings, and choices. Should we be highly offended by everything we read on the Internet? No. But should we be careful to guard our hearts from such distant aloofness and a quickness to judge? Absolutely.

The danger in such attitudes online is that we are creatures of habit and behavioral conditioning. We repeat behaviors that are rewarded, perhaps through likes or a “haha” on Facebook in response to such a comment. We receive no punishment for allowing our hearts to respond in such a way, and so this behavior continues, is rewarded, and then is reinforced even more strongly.

And our hearts suffer.

We become as the Pharisees. We see ourselves as better. We look down upon and mock others with a guise of self-importance and are egged on by those around us. Through such thoughtless actions and words, our hearts becomes hardened to the poor and the helpless, the widow and the orphan. We judge people on their perceived intelligence as we rank it, and by our comments we estimate their worth as humans and reduce God’s creation to “dumb,” “brain dead” “tourists.” We erase a name and eliminate our ability for compassion.

But isn’t it God, the creator of all and lover of the billions who has compassion on every “dumb” and “brain dead” one of us (Psalm 145:9)? Isn’t it He, who has every right to distance himself from the lowly humans, who instead walked among men in all His humility to connect with, love, and save every single one of us (John 1:14)? Isn’t it the Lord Almighty who gave up His beloved Son to deliver us from our sinful selves that we may live now and forever in right relationship with Him, though completely undeserving (John 3:16)? Yes… I do believe it is He.

It is He who chooses to have a heart of compassion that is moved to heal us (Matthew 14:14). It is He who listens to every small request and takes delight in giving good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:11)… all 7 billion of them currently alive. It is He who forgives us every stupid action of ours at the cost of His perfect Son (Numbers 14:18). It is Him after whom our hearts are designed (Genesis 9:6b), and it is His heart that we should strive to emulate on this earth.

If the mouth is the overflow of the heart (Luke 6:45), then our hearts must indeed be hardened. 

Now, I am not speaking to condemn those who take on this approach to life… I am saying this all for myself. I wish to be one who always has a soft heart for others. I hope to always be able to enter into compassion for the Lord’s children. I don’t want to live my life always hyper-afraid of offending others, but I do want to speak the truth. I want to speak the truth with love (Ephesians 4:15). I don’t want to be removed, impersonal, and quick to judge, lest I be judged according to the same measure (Matthew 7:2). I want to accept with compassion and grace as my Savior has done for me.

The Lord gave me a wake up call this morning. Because of the evil that is alive in the world today, it is easy to be seduced into losing my heart. It is all too easy to hand over my heart on a golden platter to the devil, who then sneakily hardens and distorts it.

Ezekiel 36:26

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

This is my prayer: that I receive the heart of flesh that the Lord is offering to me. I hope to never toughen like the Pharisees—as real today as they were 2000 years ago. I pray that I am always seeking the Lord’s approval, and not those of my Facebook friends (Galatians 1:10). I desire to share the heart of the Lord and the not the heart of this world. I hope to always leave the judgment of hearts to the Lord while speaking the truth of His word with love. I want to reflect my perfect creator in a dark and twisted world. I want to love others as I have been loved so overwhelmingly (1 John 4:19). I want to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, [and] mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15, NIV), not mock them.

You might ask why a hardened heart is such a big deal, and I would respond by saying that it is because a hardened heart inhibits us from hearing the Father and understanding His words.

Ephesians 4:18

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

Matthew 13:14-15

Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

What if, “their case” of which Matthew speaks in the above verse is in fact our case as well? I don’t want to be one who hears without understanding or sees but never perceives. Is my heart “dull?” Is yours? Lord, heal us.

Father, keep me soft. Give me a heart of flesh. May I always be receptive to what You’re saying to me. May I always hear with understanding and reiterate to others with correct perception. May I walk with You, Lord, in right relationship. Help my words and actions to justly represent You, Great King, in every small interaction, for Your Glory. Help me to show compassion on everyone, to love all of Your children, and to be a wise and true ambassador for You on this earth.

Holy King, let me be a mouthpiece for You.